...With Building Faith

As I was reading in the Book of Mormon I came across this verse:

"For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith." (Ether 12:30)

I thought that was pretty cool: the brother of Jared moved a mountain! I'd aspire to move as much as an ant hill! Can you imagine how much faith it would take to create such a miracle? I doubt there are many people out there that have that much faith. So, how did the brother of Jared do it?

Earlier in the book we read about the family of the brother of Jared. As the Lord confounded the languages at the tower of Babel, the brother of Jared prayed that his family would be kept safe. God led them to a beautiful area, rich in the resources they needed. His family was there for four years when the Lord came again and "for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord." (Ether 2:14)

The brother of Jared, a prophet of God, had a time of weakness. For four years he didn't trust in God or turn to Him for direction. But, rather than fall back into making that same mistake, he corrected his wrong and worked hard to build his strength in God. Then, after what I'm sure took a lot of work and time, the brother of Jared eventually built enough faith that he saw Jesus Christ in the flesh and even had enough faith to move a mountain! What an incredible example of making "weak things become strong." (Ether 12:27)

...With Babes in the Woods

I recently met a woman who had a lullaby she sang to her children each night. I was privileged enough to hear her song and her explanation of it's importance:

                        Oh, don't you remember, a long time ago,
                        There were two little babes, their names I don't know.
                        They strayed far away one bright summer's day,
                        And were lost in a wood, I've heard people say.

                        And when it was night so sad was their plight,
                        Oh the sun it went down and the stars gave no light.
                        They sobbed and they sighed, and they bitterly cried,
                        Then the two little babes, they laid down and died.

                        And when they were dead, the robins so red
                        Spread strawberry leaves all over their heads.
                        And all the day long  they sang their sweet song
                        Of the poor little babes who never did wrong!

It's an interesting old English song, with a surprisingly comforting tune, contrasting the story it tells. Yet, this experienced mother taught the message of what this song warns against: when the song was originally written, it was meant to keep young children from wandering in the woods. Today we don't have woods to wander through, but we do wander through danger each day. This song warns of wandering away from the light of what we know, and entering into a world of darkness through sin and denying God.

So, although the story may be simple enough, I hope, after looking at it again, we can heed it's warning and keep God's commandments, staying in the light.

...With The Better Part

Recently I've been doing a study of the New Testament. As I have worked my way through the four gospels, I continue to think back to the story of Martha and Mary. It consists of simply 5 verses:

 "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he [Jesus] entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

The more I think on this short story the more powerful it becomes to me. Anyone who knows me will attest that I tend to be a workaholic. As I place myself in this scene I know which person I would be: Martha.

There is nothing wrong with working, serving, and being mindful of others, but the issue here is that Martha was putting work above God. There are many good things we can do, but there is also much better. We may not all put work before God, like Martha, but we may put other things like friends, social status, money, or even ourselves. How often do we take a moment to sit down and read the word of God? How often do we ponder on Christ's sacrafice and ressurection? These are the things of eternal value -- the better part. God's love and guidance is that "which shall not be taken away" from us.